Former Reds Manager Bob Boone Dies At 78

 

Dateline: Cincinnati  

Just nine days shy of his 79th birthday, Bob Boone, who managed the Reds from 2001 thru 2003 died on Wednesday “peacefully” according to his son Brett who played for the Reds. 

He also managed his son Aaron while the younger Aaron was the Reds third baseman. Aaron is now a successful manager for the New York Yankees,

 Bob was the son of former big leaguer Ray Boone who played for the Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers. The Boone family mirror the Bell family who’s three generations include two sons who played in the big leagues.

Bob had a solid 19-year career as a catcher with the Philadelphia Phillies, California Angels and Kansas City Royals. He was drafted by the Phillies with the sixth pick in the 1969 draft out of Stanford University.

He broke in with the Phillies on September 10, 1973. He caught for the Phillies for 10 seasons and was a member of their 1980 championship, catching 142 games and was teammates with Pete Rose and Dayton, Ohio native Mike Schmidt.

He was purchased by the California Angels in 1981. Boone led the American League in games caught for five straight years and led the league again after moving to the Kansas City Royals in 1988 as a free agent with 131 games caught in 1989. He finished his playing career in 1990. 

Boone caught 2,225 in his career. When he retired he held the career record for games caught, Carlton Fisk passed him with 2,226 games in 1993. Ivan Rodriguez is the current record holder at 2,427.

As a hitter, Boone, was a career .254 hitter with his best season with a .284 average in 1977. Boone managed the Kansas City Royals from 1995 to 1998 finishing second in the AL West with a 70-74 record in a strike shortened season. In his three years with Royals he had a 181-2006 record.

Boone was named manager of the Reds in 2001, taking over for Jack McKeon. His hiring was controversial because popular Cincinnati native and Reds, player Ron Oester was offered the job as one of owner Marge Schott's favorites but she lost control of the franchise in late 1999 and Jim Bowden couldn't come to terms with Oester and hired Boone.

He managed the complete 2001 and 2002 seasons, his best year was 2002 with a 78-84 record. Boone and Bowden were fired by team  president John Allen, who named Dan O'Brien as GM and Dave  Miley was promoted from Louisville to take over for Boone. 

Boone was 190-238 as the Reds manager and 371-444 for his career.

No cause of death has been reported.